Thank you thank you thank you, Tony. So well said, and rings true for me in many ways.
This connects quite well to the fact that I always try to steer people away from describing coworking as a "service" to be provided to folks. A service implies simplicity, a start and a finish, and the relationship between service provider and consumer to be more separate than intwined. Coworking is not a service. It is complicated, ongoing, and invites the intertwining of relationships as opposed to the separation of such. I love love love these conversations and hope that they spark folks elsewhere to examine the how and the why of coworking in their lives. Awesome stuff, folks. Susan __ Office Nomads officenomads.com 206-484-5859 On Wed, Apr 4, 2012 at 3:04 PM, Tony Bacigalupo <[email protected]> wrote: > *So while many spaces sound like "true" coworking, they are still the >> minority. What can we do to fix this?* > > > We fix this by not thinking of coworking as a static thing that needs > defending but by focusing on the deeper, more meaningful concept that is > driving coworking. > > If you think of coworking as a movement, then its purpose for existence, > by definition, is to change the status quo. It also means that it, like all > movements, has a finite life cycle. Coworking, the movement, compels > existing institutions like office rental businesses to change how they do > things. In that sense, that's exactly what is happening now. > > But what we're talking about goes far deeper than that. If all coworking > did was create a world in which anyone anywhere could find a local > community of people to work alongside and collaborate with, whether by way > of small community space or large workspace provider, that would be > awesome. > > But to stop there would betray the far deeper and more important shift > that is taking place. > > When Brad Neuberg invented > Coworking<http://codinginparadise.org/weblog/2005/08/coworking-community-for-developers-who.html>, > with > a capital "C", he envisioned a more complete support system for people who > were otherwise on their own. They maintained a mutual schedule of business > hours, went to lunch together, and did group activities. It wasn't located > in an office facility; it was in a wellness center. > > In other words, it was about far more than workspace from the outset. > > A lot of what he pioneered was ahead of its time, but at the core of it is > the need for us to think of this as a completely new framework for > servicing the needs of a workforce that has total control over how, where, > when, and why they work. That's really different from the workforce that > the rest of the world is used to accommodating. The world is used to > serving the needs of a workforce that commutes, works regular business > hours, has a hierarchical employment system, regular paychecks, paid > vacations, and all sorts of other constructs. Those things just don't fit > the needs of these new folks anymore, and Coworking is the beginning of a > solution. > > But it's only the beginning. For coworking communities to distinguish > themselves as something obviously different from renting office space, we > have to continuously strive to find new ways to better serve that new > workforce. > > The fact that Benjamin and Derek and others have distanced themselves from > "coworking" is a wake-up call. If we ("who's we?") are to continue to > compel the attention, respect, admiration, awe, and participation of a > world of people for whom the old ways don't work, we have to continue to > work hard to earn it by aspiring to better fulfill those deeper needs, and > by continuing to bring this future to light. > > Keeping the perception of the word "coworking" centered on this deeper > concept is important and it merits healthy discussion, but we only have so > much control over that-- and, ultimately, it's just a shortcut. > > What we're really talking about is work as we know it, and what it will > look like when we change it. > > Tony Bacigalupo > --- > New Work City > Site <http://nwc.co/> | Twitter <http://twitter.com/nwc> | > Newsletter<http://nwc.co/newsletter> > > > > On Wed, Apr 4, 2012 at 4:52 PM, Jerome Chang <[email protected]>wrote: > >> Is making a profit for a business necessarily bad for the coworking >> community? >> Coworking has brought about great ways to collaborate, and to create >> community. Those kinds of intangible ideals will obviously manifest in >> many different ways. I don't think there is one "true" coworking, nor two >> or three, just as there is no one "true" art. >> >> >> Jerome >> ______________ >> BLANKSPACES >> "work FOR yourself, not BY yourself" >> >> www.blankspaces.com >> ph: 323.330.9505 | 5405 Wilshire Blvd (2 blocks west of La Brea) Los >> Angeles, CA 90036 >> >> On Apr 4, 2012, at 12:02 PM, Derek Neighbors wrote: >> >> Beth, >> >> As someone who also has distanced themselves from "coworking" I can >> sympathize. Coworking as a fad has become largely about space owners >> trying to make money running their "coworking business" and/or propagating >> corporations are evil and freelancer nation will rule the world. All of >> these things make building community more difficult in the long run. >> >> I think the initial incarnation of coworking was very much about >> community, but it became a victim of its own success and now a days its >> hard to distinguish most coworking spaces from shared office groups like >> Regus other than more modern layout/furniture. >> >> I think that Alex at IndyHall, Tony at NewWorkCity and the good folks at >> Office Nomads have made a great push in the last two years to try to get >> things centered back around community and many others have stepped up and >> started to turn the ship. >> >> So while many spaces sound like "true" coworking, they are still the >> minority. What can we do to fix this? >> >> -- >> Derek Neighbors >> Gangplank >> >> On Wed, Apr 4, 2012 at 9:49 AM, Beth Buczynski <[email protected]>wrote: >> >>> I'm confused...Benjamin goes to such great lengths to say that Grind >>> isn't a coworking space because it's not "an incubator or an >>> accelerator" and that the "chairs, the tables, the real-estate, >>> renting a seat or a desk are secondary to constructing a strong >>> community." That sounds EXACTLY like true coworking to me! While >>> coworking spaces can act like incubators, the spaces that exist purely >>> to facilitate this aren't necessarily committed to the community >>> aspects that set coworking apart from every other type of work space. >>> On a related but unrelated note, Grind's pop-up coworking space during >>> SxSW was really great. Anyone else check it out? >>> >>> Beth >>> @gonecoworking >>> >>> On Apr 3, 8:07 pm, David Singer <[email protected]> wrote: >>> > David Judson, the proprietor ofwww.mystartstory.com-- long form >>> > interview of founders of starups has included two piorneering >>> > coworking/collaborative workspace founders in his series: Benjamin >>> > Dyett, founder of Grind [www.grindspaces.com] and Jenifer Ross, >>> > Founder of W@tercooler [www.watercoolerhub.com]. I highly recommend >>> > these reads -- both of these individuals have inspired me to do a deep >>> > dive into exploring coworking on multiple levels. The links to the >>> > interviews are here: >>> > >>> > Benjamin Dyett: http://mystartstory.com/benjamin-dyett/ >>> > >>> > Jenifer Ross: http://mystartstory.com/jenifer-ross/ >>> > >>> > David A. Singerwww.twitter.com/davidasinger >>> >>> -- >>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>> Groups "Coworking" group. >>> To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. >>> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >>> [email protected]. >>> For more options, visit this group at >>> http://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en. >>> >>> >> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "Coworking" group. >> To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. >> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >> [email protected]. >> For more options, visit this group at >> http://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en. >> >> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "Coworking" group. >> To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. >> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to >> [email protected]. >> For more options, visit this group at >> http://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en. >> > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Coworking" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected]. > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/coworking?hl=en. > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Coworking" group. 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